ONE MACHINE, the brainchild of acclaimed guitarist/songwriter Steve Smyth (Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), have released the official music video for ‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’, the title track of the band’s debut album, out now on Scarlet Records.

Watch the video here:

One Machine is an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas “O’Beast” Koefoed (Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian progressive metallers Chaoswave played on the album).

‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’ was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth. Mixing was handled by Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Halford), mastered by Alan Douches (Three Inches Of Blood, Firewind, Sepultura) from West West Side Music with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy), complimented with photography from Anthony Dubois (Meshuggah, Mnemic).

ONE MACHINE, the brainchild of acclaimed guitarist/songwriter Steve Smyth (Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), have released the third in a series of 3 webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of ‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’, the band’s debut album out now on Scarlet Records. Check it out below:

One Machine is an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas “O’Beast” Koefoed (Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian progressive metallers Chaoswave played on the album).

‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’ was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth. Mixing was handled by Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Halford), mastered by Alan Douches (Three Inches Of Blood, Firewind, Sepultura) from West West Side Music with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy), complimented with photography from Anthony Dubois (Meshuggah, Mnemic).

Here’s a band that I knew nothing about before the arrival of their album. Hailed as a kind of ‘supergroup’ with members who served time in some genuinely heavy hitting bands, it was brought together by guitarist Steve Smyth. However, I don’t get the impression that the band are riding on past achievements and, to my mind, using the aforementioned tag would be something of a disservice as ‘supergroups’ rarely last and often the results don’t mirror the sum of the parts.

So, how does ONE MACHINE sound? Heavy. No doubt about that. It’s got a thick sound right from the off with a dense ‘wall of guitar’ sound, fairly prominent bass and drums that manage to cut through nicely. The vocals float over the top of everything and give Sandager a chance to show his impressive range. However, that is purely production which, to me anyway, never makes or breaks an album. The tunes themselves are what matter and ONE MACHINE have come up with an interesting mix of styles from the various sub-genres of metal that now exist to make life confusing for those of us that call everything from AC/DC to Sepultura metal (we may be a rarity, but never mind!) There are clear progressive leanings on some song constructions, bits of thrash here and there and traces of power metal sprinkled throughout. Most importantly, does it work?

Yes…but, somehow, not quite as perfectly as I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong; this is a very good album, particularly for a debut. The individual performances are truly excellent.

Everybody plays as hard as they can and there are myriad great performances: Mikkel Sandager reminds me of Tim Owens here and there; Steve Smyth and Jamie Hunt let rip with some inspired lead work and crushing riffs (I don’t know what division there is in ‘who plays what’ so am assuming lead work is shared, but could be wrong); Tomas Koefoed’s bass takes prominence here and there where the track calls for it and his playing is rock solid throughout; Raphael Saini tackles some intensely tricky sounding drum passages while still hammering a solid rhythm behind everything. It’s altogether very impressive.

My sole reservation may be more to do with some songs’ construction. Occasionally I found my attention wandering a bit, maybe because I as a metal fan am tiring a little of long songs that don’t seem to justify their length. I wouldn’t accuse ONE MACHINE of writing material that wasn’t coherent at all, but perhaps the one or two tracks that inspired me less than
others felt like they were there for a little longer than needed. Of course that made it all the more refreshing in the course of the album when it took a turn into new territory such as ‘Last Star Alights’ or the tasty guitar at the beginning of ‘Armchair Warriors’ (possibly my favourite track and very catchy with it).

So, there you have it. It’s purely observations from my perspective (as is any review) so you as a listener may completely disagree. The best way to find out is to buy a copy of this great album (don’t steal it – buy it and help keep the band rolling), throw it on the stereo, sit back and get lost in ONE MACHINE’s creation. I very much look forward to album two and to seeing how these guys are on stage; with the combined experience showcased in this band, they should really be something to see!

ONE MACHINE, the brainchild of acclaimed guitarist/songwriter Steve Smyth (Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), have released the second in a series of 3 webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of ‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’, the band’s debut album out February 18th, 2014 on Scarlet Records.

Watch it here:

ONE MACHINE is an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas “O’Beast” Koefoed (Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian progressive metallers Chaoswave played on the album).

‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’ was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth. Mixing was handled by Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Halford), mastered by Alan Douches (Three Inches Of Blood, Firewind, Sepultura) from West West Side Music with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy), complimented with photography from Anthony Dubois (Meshuggah, Mnemic).

According to Scarlet Records, ONE MACHINE, the brainchild of acclaimed guitarist/songwriter Steve Smyth (Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), have released the first in a series of webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of ‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’, the band’s debut album out February 18th, 2014 on Scarlet Records.

Watch it here:

One Machine is an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas “O’Beast” Koefoed (Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian progressive metallers Chaoswave played on the album).

‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’ was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth. Mixing was handled by Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Halford), mastered by Alan Douches (Three Inches Of Blood, Firewind, Sepultura) from West West Side Music with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy), complimented with photography from Anthony Dubois (Meshuggah, Mnemic).

Scarlet Records have announced that ONE MACHINE, the brainchild of acclaimed guitarist/songwriter Steve Smyth (Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), have released a new song taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’, out February 18th, 2014 on Scarlet Records.

Listen to the title song ‘One Machine’ here:

One Machine is an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas “O’Beast” Koefoed (Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian progressive metallers Chaoswave played on the album).

‘The Distortion Of Lies And The Overdriven Truth’ was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth. Mixing was handled by Roy Z (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson, Halford), mastered by Alan Douches (Three Inches Of Blood, Firewind, Sepultura) from West West Side Music with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy), complimented with photography from Anthony Dubois (Meshuggah, Mnemic).